In an island located near Central

America called Puerto Rico there

Once was a vast rich forest full
of life and wonder

filled with plants of

all shapes and sizes

one plant that was found and can

still be found today is the Puerto
Rican hibiscus native to the tropical
regions of Puerto Rico.

But this is not the only
plants in fact Puerto Rico is
home to 49 endangered
species of plants and trees' '
another plant native to Puerto
Rico is the Beehive ginger
plant. It can be distinguished
by its cone like shape and it’s
vibrant
colors

But Puerto Rico isn’t Home to just plants, it is also Home to a Huge
variety of animals. Including the Coqui frog, which is the national
animal of Puerto Rico
The coqui can be distinguished by the chirp
it makes which Sounds like

Co qui

Hence the name

el coqui is not the only animal The Puerto Rican parrot

native to Puerto Rico’s can be distinguished by its
forests, another animal is the blue feathers on the side
Puerto Rican parrot of its head

but that’s not all, in fact Puerto Rico is home to over 377 different
species of birds
 In the early years the tribes of Puerto Rico, known as the Taino
people lived side by side with the jungles of Puerto Rico. But that all
changed when Christopher Columbus decided to colonize Puerto Rico
in 1493 And soon after in 1508 the Taino natives were working in gold
mines and plantations

In 1514 the Taino people rebelled resulting in 65-90% of

the population being killed. After the rebellion the
Spanish had no use of the Taino and moved elsewhere.
fast forward to the
1950s and The Puerto
Rican people began
deforesting for
agriculture. Resulting
in the beginning of
extreme deforestation
in Puerto Rico.

in the 1980s the Puerto

Rican parrot’S
population halved due
to deforestation and
natural weather
occurrences, today
only 30-50 Puerto
Rican parrots remain.
this is not all, 3 types of coqui are
said to be endangered

as well as the Puerto Rican

croaked toad and many different
bird species

And it is estimated that if no

changes are made soon most of
Puerto Rico’s wildlife will be
critically endangered by 2050.
And every day people such as
carmen Garay andrades who is
native to Puerto Rico have begun
to notice the effects:

Puerto Rico is
not as beautiful as it
once was, the days are
silent and the nights
filled with the sounds of
lonely coques
chirping.

it is truly a sad thing

to live through, to see a
once vibrant forest so
full of life to turn into a
unnecessary piece of
translated from Spanish
real estate .
what you can do to help
visit:fws.gov/southeast/puerto-
Rico and make a donation
show your support online
and on social media
Sources: Culture
trip.comStmuhistorymedia.or
g/christophercolumbus-and
the discovery of puerto
ricoActive
Caribbean.comWeebly.com
the end